Moments Like This
by amybreezey101
Summary: My first ever fanfic! Felicity is not acting normally and Oliver notices. When the worst happens, he can't help but realize how much he truly cares for her. OLICITY ALL THE WAY (chapter 9 TRIGGER WARNING sexual abuse insinuated) (chapter 11 and 12 TORTURE blood and abuse)
1. Chapter 1

"I knew this would happen." Felicity thought as her nails clacked against the computer keyboard in front of her with a little more gusto than normal to block out the sounds of Oliver Queen and Sarah Lance kissing on the sofa.

"Honestly, you come back from the dead once and suddenly everyone wants to get with you." she grumbled with a visible role of her eyes. Felicity heard a snigger quickly covered up by a cough. She swivelled around on her computer chair to see Diggle standing in the corner of the room with his hand over his grinning mouth. He had seen her indignation over Oliver's antics and obviously thought the same. She smiled back knowingly.

"What are you two smirking about?" asked Oliver, taking a short breather from the snogging marathon he had just taken part in.

"Nothing!" said Diggle and Felicity at exactly the same time. Diggle went back to searching on his phone and Felicity turned back to the computer screen, finishing the local surveillance of CCTV cameras; a new habit of hers considering what was going on.

"What you doing?" enquired Oliver, who had suddenly appeared behind her, nearly making her fall out of her chair.

"Jesus, Oliver! Can you at least tell me when you're going to creep up on me? I swear to God you're going to give me a heart attack one of these days!" gasped Felicity.

Oliver smiled a coy smile and then looked back to her screen.

"Why are you looking at security cameras?"

Felicity blushed and turned away from him. "It doesn't matter, just peace of mind."

Oliver saw her turn away from him and was immediately worried. This wasn't like Felicity. She normally would think of some incredible lie to explain her actions but not tonight. Now he thought about it, she had been looking tired recently. Studying her face carefully he saw dark blue circles under her eyes implying a lack of sleep. "Are you okay, Felicity?" he said quietly, kneeling down to her height so he could look into her eyes.

Trying to ignore his closeness to her, Felicity mumbled "Fine," before flashing him a quick smile and turning back to her computer screen. She definitely didn't note how blue his eyes looked in the low light or how his muscles seemed to ripple underneath his tight black top. She closed off the CCTV camera tab, shut down her computer system, grabbed her coat and quickly excused herself from the room.

Sarah was still sat on the couch, watching her leave then looking back to Oliver, tempting him to come back. Normally, he would be by her side in a flash when she was like this but he was too worried about Felicity to even notice her. He crossed the room to Diggle in a few long strides and whispered, "I want you to follow Felicity home. She's been checking the CCTV cameras near her house and she looks like she hasn't slept in weeks."

Diggle looked at him for a few moments then nodded. "Don't worry about it, I'll look after her." Oliver slapped him on the back, relieved that she would be safe.

He walked back to the sofa and snuggled next to Sarah but ignored her attempts to gain his attention. He was too preoccupied worrying about Felicity. She was normally so sarcastic and energetic, a little too much sometimes, so something big must be on her mind. But what could it be?


	2. Chapter 2

_He watched her walk towards him, hidden in the safety of an alleyway. She was walking fast, her heels clacking on the pavement, mimicking the staccato beat of his pulse. The street lamps regularly lit her face so that the lower part of her jaw was in shadow, accentuating the gentle curve of her cheek. She was so beautiful but something bothered him tonight. Her normally smart and slick ponytail was dishevelled, angry blonde snakes whipping in front of her. He ground his teeth together. Did she not love him enough to at least make an effort with her appearance? As if hearing his thoughts, she tucked them behind her ear and picked up the pace._

_This was the coldest night yet he had watched her; unseasonably cold for this time of year. Almost hearing her thoughts, she wrapped the coat tighter onto herself, so tight it was almost a second skin. He smiled. He had left something in her apartment, something she was sure to love. He wanted to reach out now and snatch her away but he controlled himself._

"_Not now, not yet," He whispered to himself, "Soon." _

_He composed himself then turned back to her. She was walking towards him, head down, bracing herself against the wind. She was near home now, closer to his gift. He couldn't contain his excitement. How would she react when he saw it? Looking down at his wrist and stroking the bandage in place there he knew that whatever the reception of it, he was going to be there to see it. _

_His head snapped up as he sensed her getting closer. She passed the alleyway he was standing in and he fell back further into the shadows. A car drove past, the headlights reflected in her glasses making it look as if her eyes were made of fire. The wind picked up pace, blowing her fragrance right to where he was standing and the smell of flowers and musk filled his nostrils. He loved her smell and had grown familiar to it over the past weeks. Now he wanted nothing else than to be with that scent forever; which he would be, if he waited._

_He was hyper aware that he was not the only one surveying her. A man was sitting in the car, his eyes fixed on her, talking on the phone. He knew exactly who he was and wasn't the tiniest bit afraid. In fact, he was the one who led him to her. He was grateful. For once in a very long time, he had purpose, he had a goal._

_Felicity._

The wind was biting and Felicity wrapped her coat tighter around herself. It was an unusually cold evening and the weather matched her mood perfectly. Numb. The past few weeks had been like a nightmare; not her life, a horror movie. She hadn't told anyone. Not even Oliver, although she had been tempted many a time to let it slip.

The wind blew even harder, blowing a few strands out of her ponytail. The escaped blonde locks whipped around her face. She tucked them behind her ear and picked up the pace. She had the unsettling feeling that someone was watching her. A car passed, momentarily blinding her and the wind blew even harder. She ran a hand through her already messy ponytail, trying to get the loose hair out of her face. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, she reached her apartment block and let herself into the comforting warmth.

_He watched her walk up the steps to her apartment and let herself in. He slipped back into the shadows and walked to the end of the alley where he knew he could access the buildings fire exits._

Felicity jogged up the stairs two at a time, trying to get some feeling back into her frozen toes. Reaching her apartment door, still out of breath from the climb, she made a mental note to enrol herself for one of Digg's training sessions at the lair. How could she get Oliver to notice her if she was panting after climbing 3 flights of steps?!

Normally she wouldn't have wanted to go into her apartment. In the past few weeks' small things had been changed about her home. Sometimes clothes taken out of her wardrobe and strewn across the floor or maybe food missing from the fridge that she could have sworn was there. Small things. Things that hopefully wouldn't be noticed. However, today she was so engrossed imagining her new toned body that she didn't even notice anything was wrong until she slipped her key into the lock. It had been scratched at. Gold flakes shimmered on the floor leaving the keyhole looking cracked and ruined.

She bent down, trying to assess the damage that had been done. It didn't seem too bad, only superficial but this small observation brought back Felicity's fears about stepping inside. Muscly bodies forgotten she took a long and shuddering breath and opened the door, expecting the worst.

Inside, for once, her apartment was tidy. She sighed, the tension leaving her body, angry with herself for being so paranoid and went into her bedroom to change.

_He was standing outside her fire escape. He knew she was in there because he could hear her scuffling around and the open and close of her wardrobe doors. The lights were on, throwing her silhouette onto the curtain in front of him as she changed._

_He loved this. Her not knowing he was here. It made him feel powerful; in control for once._

She had changed into her oldest leggings and baggiest sweatshirt and padded into the kitchen. She reached into the freezer and grabbed a big pint of Ben & Jerry's, vowing that she would start the healthy eating and training tomorrow. Now, she told herself, she needed comfort food to shake the unnerving feeling of being watched. She crossed to the sink, grabbed a spoon and threw herself down onto the sofa. Switching the TV on, she sighed. This was the first time she had felt human for weeks.

_An hour past, and he was beginning to get frustrated. Why hadn't she found her gift yet? Did he not want it? He reminded himself that she hadn't even been in the bathroom yet but even that wouldn't calm him down. He tried to think of a way of getting her away from the TV. Then it struck him like a hammer to the face._

_He shuffled to the other side of the fire escape, his eyes fixed on the TV satellite. Being careful not to look down, he stretched across to try and grab hold of it. Wobbling and almost slipping, he finally clasped the cool metal stick. With one swift movement, he snapped it in two. Smiling, he waited for his work to have an effect._

In the middle of the news, the TV went black. Felicity let out an involuntary yelp and nearly dropped the precious chocolate tub. Thankfully, she didn't and no calories were spilt. She sighed, now was not the time for the TV to break. She was already skint and definitely couldn't afford a new set. Grumbling to herself, she got up and placed the ice cream back into its home. Throwing the spoon into the sink, hearing the clang of metal on metal, she walked into her bedroom and decided to have a shower to wash out all the stress of the day.

Walking into the bathroom, she fumbled against the wall to find the light switch. Finally, fluorescent light flooded the small room. She quickly undressed and was wrapping herself in a towel when she noticed everything that was wrong.

The shower curtain was across. It was back when she left. The mirrored bathroom cabinet was half open and the edge was tinged red. Her heart thumped in her chest, quickening until her heart rate moved almost at the same speed as a hummingbird's wings. She knew she should just leave and call the police but as usual her curiosity and burning desire for knowledge won out. With shaking hands she reached out, blood pounding in her ears. She slowly peeled back the shower curtain revealing a scene of slaughter.

The floor of the bath was covered in dry blood, a lot of it. The contrast of the white against the shock of red was stark in the bright lights. The smell of wet copper pennies hunk in the air so strong, she wondered how she could have missed it. The blood, in some areas, travelled up the walls and the taps were covered in the substance. Suddenly it was too much for her. Felicity swayed and didn't realise she was on the floor until her head collided with the side of the bath. Hard. It was not the sight of blood that made her fall. She wasn't squeamish. What made her fall were the letters it had been moulded into instead.

In her bath, crudely written in blood was the word 'MINE'. Reaching for her phone, she managed to snap one picture before falling into unconsciousness.

_He smiled. She had found his gift._


	3. Chapter 3

Felicity mumbled in her sleep and rolled over onto her side. A shooting pain in her right temple suddenly jolted her awake. Sitting up groggily, she tentatively felt the side of her head and winced. It hurt like hell. She cringed as the light from her half open curtains hit her face. She felt like she had one of the worst hangovers in existence. She fumbled along her bedside table blindly until she found her glasses and slid them on. Her mouth felt like cotton wool so she swung her legs out of bed intending to grab a glass of water from the kitchen. Unfortunately, her head disagreed with the sudden movement and the world seemed to tilt dangerously to one side. She forced herself to sit down and take a few deep breaths as she waited for the dizziness to subside.

Stumbling over to the kitchen in a half asleep daze, she tried to piece together what had happened the previous night. As she filled up her glass, she saw a chocolate covered spoon sitting in the sink.

"That's right," she mused "I had Ben and Jerry's ice cream, then watched TV, and then went for a shower but… oh God." The events of the previous night hit her so fast that she had to grab hold of the side of the counter to stop her from falling. The blood in the shower. Hitting her head against the side of the bath. Her stalker.

Looking down at her hand, she saw her fingers had turned a ghostly white at the strength she was gripping the side. Slowly, prising her fingers away, she placed her untouched glass down and looked across her apartment. Everything seemed to be the same but just to make sure she made a quick sweep of the rooms.

As she walked into the bedroom, a thought struck her. She had woken up in her bed when she had fallen in the bathroom. She didn't remember moving and by the state she was in now, she highly doubted she would have been able to even if she wanted to. There was only one explanation. Someone had come into her home and moved her to her bed.

She had hours of her life having no idea what had happened to her. She had been unconscious and unable to stop anything. Had they done anything to her? She hastily undressed and stood in front of the full length mirror. She turned from side to side, cautiously scanning her body for any marks that hadn't been there before. Luckily, there was nothing of interest apart from a huge black and purple bruise blossoming over her right eye.

"How the hell am I going to explain this to Oliver?" she groaned. With the mention of his name, she suddenly remembered that she actually had things to do other than mope around her apartment all day. Most importantly, work. Glancing over at the alarm she saw it was 7:15am. Only 30 minutes to make herself somewhat presentable. She rushed into the bathroom without thinking.

Realising her mistake, she gasped. However, looking into the bath, there wasn't a speck of blood in it; the white acrylic spotless and shining. Could it all have been a dream? Confused, Felicity had almost convinced herself that the night before had been a figment of imagination until she saw her phone lying on the tiled floor. Bending down slowly as not to upset her head, she scooped it off the floor and opened the photos.

There was the picture of last night, blood splashed into letters. It definitely wasn't a dream.

She knew she should call the police, or Oliver. No. Definitely not Oliver. She couldn't be weak like that. She had to be strong, like Sara. Putting her phone on the side, she set to work on her face.

It took her 15 minutes to half conceal the bruise on her face. In the end, she gave up and hoped the wind wouldn't blow the hair she had carefully placed over it. She walked as fast as her head would allow her and threw open her wardrobe. Grabbing the first dress she saw, she threw it over her head, trying not to smudge her handiwork. Pulling on one heel, she hobbled over to the curtains and flung them open.

The sudden light sent a wave of pain through her head but she ignored it as she yanked on her other shoe. Grabbing her phone and purse, she flew out the door, slamming it behind her.


	4. Chapter 4

Oliver hadn't slept well. Even after Diggle had called, reassuring him that Felicity got home safe, he wasn't able to settle. He had never seen Felicity look so run down before that night in the lair. Now, she was late for work and he couldn't help the creeping feeling of unease slip in. He was sitting in his office, trying to get through the pile of paperwork stacked on his desk but his mind wandered and he couldn't concentrate. He swivelled around in his chair towards the window and stared across the cityscape. His home was in front of him. A home he had sworn to protect, forsaking all others. Somehow, Felicity had gotten tangled in this. Where was she?

As if in answer to his thoughts, Felicity came rushing into the office holding a bundle of papers. Giving her a small wave, she smiled back and mouthed, "Sorry!" With a sigh of relief, he turned his attentions back to the growing pile of administration. Everything was okay.

He hadn't noticed Felicity until about lunchtime. Normally, she would be moving in and out of his office, asking if he wanted coffee or telling him someone had called for him. Today, she had stayed sitting at her desk, engrossed in something on her computer screen.

Looking up from his current file, he saw that she was sitting at the very far corner of her desk and had moved her laptop to accommodate this. Standing up and stretching his arms, he strode over to her. She glanced up as he came closer and smiled before looking back to her work.

"Why are you sitting there?" he said, a grin flickering across his lips.

"It was the only part in the shade," she responded before looking up and giving him a small smile, "Ben and Jerry's hangover."

He smirked. This was more like the Felicity he knew. "Headache?"

"Like you wouldn't believe." she groaned.

"You look a lot better than last night," he observed. "Did you sleep well?"

She nodded quietly, not trusting herself to say anything without letting it slip.

"Was it anything to do Sara?" Oliver pressed, trying to make sense of her condition the previous night. "I know it's been pretty hard for you with her coming back and stuff…" He tailed off, giving her a chance to reply.

With a deep breath, she began talking in a small voice "I'm fine, it's just… I'm not your girl anymore." She stared at a spot on her desk, too embarrassed to look him in the eye and too embarrassed for him to see the tears threatening to spill.

Gently talking hold of her chin, he lifted her face up so she was looking straight in his eyes. He knew he shouldn't give her the wrong idea but he couldn't help it.

"Hey. You'll always be my girl." He said softly, cupping his hand over her cheek, his thumb stroking up to her right eye. It brushed against the hair covering her right temple and he froze. A huge black and purple bruise travelled across the right side of her forehead and spread down to where his finger was resting. Realising her mistake, she cursed and twisted away from him.

Oliver grabbed her turning chair and whipped it back. She winced at the sudden movement and squeezed her eyes shut to block out the ache in her head and the probable angry stare of Oliver. However, when she slowly opened them, she saw that instead of the fuming face she was expecting, he looked genuinely concerned.

"How did this happen?" he whispered, gently grazing his fingers over her forehead, sending little shoots of pain through her skull.

"Um, I tripped?" she said unconvincingly.

With him staring into her eyes, she saw that he was trying very hard not to explode. She really couldn't deal with an angry, growly Oliver so she quickly dropped the charade.

"Okay fine, I didn't trip. I just didn't want to tell you but you're going to get all growly and I don't want to make things bad between you and Sara and I don't want to get in the way…" she babbled, silently cursing at her inability to shut her mouth. Looking up at Oliver, she saw him trying to process everything she had just said. As he opened his mouth to speak she interrupted.

"Not here. Not now. Please." With a silent nod, he took her by the wrist and half guided, half dragged her into the lift.

She knew she was in deep trouble.

The journey to the lair was made in complete silence. Felicity tried endlessly to make small talk but the monosyllabic answers to her questions told her he was angry. Very angry. He was gripping the wheel hard, knuckles going white at the force he was squeezing. His eyes were focused on the road and they were going well above the speed limit. Not that Felicity said anything. She would rather her head wasn't bitten off.

As they drew up to Verdant, she was starting to get nervous. She knew she had to tell him but how would he react when he realised she had kept this from him for more than a week. She was expecting an explosion.

As they stopped, he threw open his door and slammed it, the loud noise hurting her head. Felicity quickly undid her seatbelt and hurried after him, trying not to wince in the bright sunlight. She ran down the stairs into the welcoming darkness to see Oliver angrily talking to Diggle.

"You said! You said she was safe!" Oliver shouted; all the pent up rage finally released.

"Well I'm sorry I can't see through closed doors Oliver!" retorted Diggle.

"Sh, sh, Headache." Felicity moaned, rubbing the good side of her head. Both snapped around to face her and Oliver's anger seemed to drop away, as if suddenly remembering why they were here. Almost running over to her, he took her by the arm to sit down on the sofa.

"Tell me now. What happened?" he said gently, but with an undertone of anger, telling her that there was no use in messing around. Taking a deep breath she explained.

"For the past week, things have been wrong at my apartment. Cupboard doors left open when they were closed before, my clothes taken from my wardrobe and across my bed but I just thought I was so tired that I didn't remember doing it. But, I've had a really bad feeling about it all so I was checking the CCTV cameras, just to be sure," she gestured to her computers on the other side of the room. "I walked home and I was sure someone was watching me. Like their eyes were burning holes in me. Then I got home and I saw…" she couldn't finish the sentence.

Oliver placed his hand over hers to feel them trembling. Something bad was going on here.

"What did you see?" he prompted. Wordlessly, Felicity held out her phone. Oliver took it, confused.

"The pictures. I took a picture." She whispered.

Quickly unlocking her phone and switching to the Gallery, he saw through her eyes what she had seen the previous night. The blood in the bath spelt into the one word. MINE.

Felicity dropped her head to her hands and sobbed. She couldn't hold it in anymore. Oliver stood up swiftly and was joined by Diggle who matched his shocked expression.

Snapping back to her, Oliver near shouted, "Did they touch you?! Is that why you have the bruise on your forehead?!"

"I fell. Banged my head on the side of the bath." she sobbed. "There was nobody in my apartment."

This seemed to calm Oliver slightly and finally saw that Felicity was crying. He sat back down next to her and pulled her into him. Her head rested against his chest and he could feel her shaking. He stayed there until the tears subsided.

"Sorry," she chocked "I've ruined your shirt." It was true; there were mascara stains along his chest and some foundation covering her bruise had smudged too. He shook his head as if to say it didn't matter.

"Okay, Felicity has a stalker." she flinched at the harshness of his words. Turning to her he said "You can't go home, it's too dangerous. They could be waiting for you. You can stay at mine." Too drained to argue, she nodded.

"Digg, I want you to go back to her apartment and search it for anything out of place."

A thought suddenly popped into her head. It was only midday. "Oliver, what about the meetings? You have 4 planned for this afternoon."

He waved away her concern. "I'll call Isabel and she can take them. It's not a problem."

She heard Diggle jogging up the stairs then the door slammed behind him. She had to tell Oliver the whole story.

"There is something else." she said quietly.

"What?" he answered without turning back to her.

"I hit my head in the bathroom and I don't remember moving but I woke up in my bed,"

Oliver slowly turned around to her, not quite believing what he was hearing.

"I think they were in my apartment. Someone moved me."


	5. Chapter 5

They didn't leave the lair until at least 2pm. After Felicity had revealed the final part of her ordeal, Oliver went mad. Like an uncontrolled tornado, he flew around the room, smashing the glass cabinets and snapping anything in his path. Felicity had to shrink behind the sofa to avoid the flying glass and debris. After breaking everything fragile in the main room, he moved to the training poles. His limbs moving faster than she could track, he hit them with such almighty power, you could almost hear them groaning.

Felicity didn't dare move. Her head was pounding and Oliver seemed to be in some kind of anger induced trance. Hugging her knees to her, she tried to block out the sudden noises assaulting her head. After what seemed like an age, with one final grunt, he punched the stick so hard, it snapped off in a cloud of dust. He was smothered in sweat and shaking with anger. Seeing her chance, Felicity straightened quickly and ran towards him, ignoring the dizziness and black spots in her vision.

"I'm sorry!" she cried.

Oliver sighed. "I'm just angry that you didn't tell me earlier… are you alright?" he asked worriedly. She was ghostly white and seemed to be swaying.

With a slight shake of her head, she crumbled. He caught her by her waist just before she hit the floor.

Felicity was lying out on his bed, still unconscious. When she had fallen, he had caught her and taken her straight to his home. He felt awful. He had gotten frustrated, letting it cloud his judgement, not seeing the scared woman cowering behind the sofa, obviously in pain. Now she was knocked out on his bed. His fault.

She murmured quietly and he rushed to her side, lightly placing his hand across the good side of her face. Her eyes fluttered open and seeing him, she smiled weakly.

"I fell didn't I?"

Oliver grinned and nodded. "How you feeling?"

"Better." She lied unconvincingly.

He laughed "You're a really bad liar you know."

"Touché." She retorted, trying to get up, wincing at the movement. He took her shoulders and firmly pushed her back down.

"Nope. You're staying right there. Bed rest." She opened her mouth to complain, "No arguments."

Growling, her eyes flicked around the room.

"Where am I?"

"In my room."

"So this is…."

"My bed. Yes." He finished.

She was trying not to feel embarrassed that she was in his bed at such close proximity to him. Trying and failing. Badly. Luckily, a knock at the door interrupted them. Digg stuck his head around the door; smiling at her once he saw she was awake then beaconing to Oliver to join him outside. Looking down at her once again, Oliver left the room reluctantly. As the door closed behind them, Felicity could only make out soft mumbles of a conversation. She knew that Diggle had checked out her apartment so they were most likely talking about her. Which, she told herself, would make it okay to eavesdrop on them.

Swinging her legs out from underneath the heavy duvet, she padded closer to the door. Her head was still throbbing but she ignored it as this was much more interesting. She could hear the discussion on the other side get more heated as the volume increased. Then, suddenly, complete silence. A faint rustle was all she could hear. Unable to contain her curiosity any more, she popped her head around the door.

"What are you talking about?" She looked at Oliver and was shocked to see that he had gone completely pale.

"What did you tell him?!" she said worriedly as she looked up to Digg.

"He thinks he knows who your stalker is, Felicity. He left a note in your apartment. It's not good news." Replied Diggle, his eyes fixed on Oliver.

"Who is he then?" she said whipping back to Oliver. Digg's arm shot out as she wobbled, not used to the sudden movements. This seemed to snap Oliver out of whatever trance he was in. He handed over the paper in his hand to Felicity. It read:

_My Dearest love,_

_You mustn't be afraid. Everything I have done and what I will do to you is for a reason. I know you are friends with a Mr Oliver Queen and I intend to undo all the damage he has done to my family. I'm afraid, my sweetheart, that you are only a necessary casualty in this endeavour. I WILL TAKE YOU. There is nothing neither you nor Mr Queen can do about that. But when I do, I will do everything he did to my sister. Maybe more. It depends. Just remember my love. YOU. ARE. MINE._

_A.R_

Felicity's hands were shaking. Looking up to Oliver, she saw he was studying her closely.

"Who is he? She said her voice cracking.

"Antony Riggs." Oliver replied in an equally soft tone. "Before the island, I went out with his daughter. We were good together but me being the jerk that I was, I broke up with her. She was devastated and 2 months later, she took her own life. I'm guessing he didn't take it too well."

"And now he's after me?" she replied in barely a whisper.

Oliver's expression suddenly morphed into one of determination and anger. "No. He will not get to you Felicity. Over my dead body."

He said these words with so much conviction that she immediately calmed down.

"Okay. Now is there somewhere else I could move to? I'm still pretty damn tired and I don't want to intrude on your room." She said quickly.

His face fell as Diggle got the hint and left them on their own. "You know you could stay. In my room."

"Oliver, what about Sara? I'm sorry but it's not fair on her." She couldn't believe she was saying this. For how many months had she dreamed about sleeping in his bed and now the moment had arrived she was turning it away. She really was tired. With a small nod, Oliver led her down the corridor.

"I'll get them to open up the other side of the house. But I want to give you this," he handed over her phone. "Don't worry. I've transferred the picture over to my phone. Just keep it by you and call me if anything is wrong. Okay?"

She nodded. For the first time in weeks she was safe.


	6. Chapter 6

**ARG! I'm sooooo sorry guys! Everything's been completely manic and I've literally had no time to write which sucks :( As a treat, I'm preparing lots of chapters to make up for my ridiculously long absence period! Hope you enjoy and thank you for all the nice reviews! It really makes my day when I wake up to see all of them! (Hint: reviews make me want to write more… just saying :D)**

The guest room was huge; much nicer than any hotel room Felicity had ever been in. A large 4 poster bed dominated the space, piled with soft throws and expensive looking pillows. There was even a fire place although it wasn't lit leaving the room with a distinct chill in the air. Felicity wrapped her arms tight around her middle, shivering as the adrenaline from the day wore off.

Walking over to the floor length mirror hanging on the wall, she tentatively observed her appearance. Her face was wan, the makeup covering her bruise long gone so the purple blemish stood out starkly against her pale skin. She looked weak and fragile as if one touch would make her shatter. Some of her hair had escaped from her usually neat ponytail and her eyes were dull, lacking their usual sparkle. She looked away from the stranger in the mirror until she saw the ensuite and sighed. A shower was definitely in order.

She padded softly across the lush carpet until she arrived in an equally massive bathroom. She turned the light switch and the room suddenly filled with florescent light. She tried not to flinch as the memory of the previous night came flooding back with full force. She pushed the door shut with her foot and quickly stripped. Stepping into the shower, she turned the power up high until the water was almost scorching. Tiny pricks of steaming water assaulted her bare skin and she instantly felt her tense muscles start to relax. She stood underneath it until she almost felt human again.

Tendrils of steam escaped from the open door as she emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a huge fluffy blanket, her hair already beginning to dry into messy ringlets. She didn't have a choice but to get changed back into her clothes from the day although they were covered in dust from Oliver's temper tantrum.

The alarm showed it was only half ten but Felicity was already exhausted. After placing her glasses on the small bedside table, she pushed the heavy duvet back and slipped between the sheets. They were cold and crisp causing her to shiver as she got herself comfortable. Almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, she was fast asleep, momentarily forgetting about everything that had happened to her.

_He was angry. He had been waiting outside her apartment for almost an hour and she still hadn't shown up. She was very late and that annoyed him. He had left a note for her to find. A tall muscular black man had almost caught him leaving it in her apartment but he had managed to shimmy onto the fire escape before he saw him. The stranger had packed a small duffel bag with some of her clothes, toiletries and also the scrap of paper he left on her pillow and left as abruptly as he had arrived. This had just added fuel to his fire. Had she not gotten his message?! It had been written fairly obviously in his blood in her bath! She was his and nobody else could get in the way. Leaving his dark hiding place, he stalked down the street, muttering unintelligible threats to anyone who would dare try to take her from him._

Felicity had uninterrupted sleep until around three in the morning. That was when the nightmares started. She saw a blurry figure walking towards her whilst a cacophony of voices whispered around her head, causing her to thrash around to try and get away from them. She whimpered as the figure advanced quicker, her movements becoming more and more frantic to try and escape but held down by invisible bonds. As the intruder stood above her, looking down on her, she felt their hands along her body. Rough, unforgiving hands intent on one purpose. That was when she screamed.

Everything was blurry and unfamiliar partly due to the nightmare and partly to do with her lack of glasses. She was shaking uncontrollably as she heard pounding footsteps coming closer to the door. As the door flung open, she scrambled backwards until she felt the cold wood press against her back, still half in the nightmare. A slightly bigger blurry figure ran towards her. Her heart pounded painfully as she curled herself into the smallest shape possible to try and covered her face with her arms.

"Felicity?!" Oliver's unmistakable tone cut through her confused brain. She whipped her arm out to the side and fumbled around blindly to find her glasses. As soon as she had them on, she saw the scene much clearer. Oliver was kneeling forward on the bed, the normal emotionless mask he wore gone and replace with one of fear and worry.

"Felicity! It's okay, it was just a nightmare. I'm here. You're safe!" On hearing these words she broke down. She slumped forward and felt his arms enclose around her back. He pulled her tightly to his chest and let her cry, murmuring gentle words into her ear. His hand comfortingly rubbed her back until her breathing grew more even.

She sat up, forcing one of his hands to drop down, the other still resting on her hip. She wiped her eyes under her glasses. She looked exhausted.

"Sorry," she mumbled, her cheeks flushing pink with embarrassment.

"Don't apologise," Oliver said gently. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head with a little more vigour than anticipated, knowing that if she tried to tell him what she had seen, she would most likely break down again.

"You look tired." Oliver remarked as he brought his hand up so his thumb brushed under her eyes where there were undoubtedly dark circles.

"So do you," retorted Felicity, a tired smile flashing across her lips.

The temptation was strong. They were so close that she could smell his expensive cologne that clung to his shirt. The smell that now meant safety. She could see the way his muscles twitched as he traced small patterns along her hip. His eyes had seemingly grown darker, deeper, not their usual clear blue. She cleared her throat and looked away from him, trying to stifle a yawn.

"Sleep," Oliver commanded softly as he started to get to his feet to move away.

"No!" The sound of Felicity's sudden terrified voice made him snap back to her. "Sorry. Could you stay? I don't want to be alone." She said in a voice too small for her.

"Of course." He replied, moving back towards the bed. He lifted the duvet and slid beneath the sheets.

"You're cold." He said worriedly, wrapping one long arm around her waist, hoping some of his body heat would slowly warm her up. As she shuffled back towards him, he felt her small body press into his chest. He marvelled at the fact that they could be so different, yet fit together so perfectly. He heard her giggle mischievously just before she wrapped her freezing feet around his. He gasped at the sudden cold then chuckled darkly.

"Oh you're going to pay for that!" His fingers slowly started to graze her sides, tickling her. She yelped and started laughing. He revelled in her happiness as she wiggled to try and get away from his fingers. Tears ran down her face as she screeched at him to stop. He eventually conceded, leaving her lying there, gasping for breath.

"You don't… play fair…. Mr Queen!" she panted between breaths. He smirked and pulled her closer to him until her still damp hair stroked his face. He leant over until his mouth was by her ear, watching as she shivered as his breath chilled the sensitive skin there.

"Who said I did?!"

**REVIEW PLEASE?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Here's the next chapter as promise my amigos! Thank you for the lovely reviews left and as always, more would be appreciated. Also, if you have any tips or plot ideas please leave them in a review and you never know… I may use it! (With credit of course, I don't steal :D)**

Felicity woke to a wall of solid grey. As she pushed away, she realised that she must have rolled over in the night so she was facing into Oliver's chest. As she tried to roll away from his embrace, her headache made its return with a vengeance. Shooting pains sliced through her temples and she groaned involuntarily. It was then that she realised Oliver was already awake and looking down at her.

He smiled at her. "Headache?" She nodded slowly, immediately regretting it as her head disagreed with the movement.

"You know watching someone whilst they sleep is borderline creepy. No. Wait, screw 'borderline'. Just plain creepy." She smirked.

"Well, I thought I might as well take in the view."

"God, how did you get so many girlfriends with cheesy pickup lines like that?!"

"I think it may have been something to do with the fact that I have 3 Ferraris. You know maybe…"

"Show off much!" Felicity snorted as she slowly pushed herself up, ignoring her pounding head.

She must have been doing a bad job concealing it as Oliver quickly sprung from the bed and walked to the bathroom in 3 long strides. He returned holding a small glass of water and two small pills.

"Here. This will help." She gratefully took the tablets and swallowed them quickly. As she put down the glass on the bedside table, she saw a vaguely familiar duffel bag on the floor in the corner of the room. Following her eye line, Oliver looked over his shoulder and answered the question already brewing on her lips.

"I got Digg to grab a few things from your apartment. There should be a few outfits in there so why don't you get ready? I just need to ring the office to tell them neither of us will be in today…" he was interrupted almost immediately by Felicity who was suddenly standing up.

"We're going into work Oliver! I'm fine! Plus, you have the annual board meeting at three which you can't get out of before you even try to" she added as she saw him opening his mouth to argue.

"Okay but, if I let you go to work, and I'm not saying you are, you're not allowed to leave the building without me or Digg. You also have to tell me if you feel ill in anyway and I'll take you straight home."

Felicity sighed. She knew these terms were the only things that would allow her to go in so she reluctantly agreed.

"You're remarkable you know." Oliver said as he placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Thank you for remarking on it!" She grinned as she remembered the first time that they met. "Now budge, no matter how many Ferraris you have, you are most definitely not watching me get changed!"

Oliver's eyebrow rose slowly as his eyes grew darker. "Are you sure about that?"

Felicity gulped, hoping it wouldn't be as loud as she thought it was.

He chuckled and slowly left the room, gently shutting the door behind him. She muttered silently to herself as she walked over to her bag, cursing his ability to be so smooth. Upon unzipping it and staring inside, Felicity immediately regretted letting Digg choose her clothes. The man was extremely good at beating up baddies, leaving a good few bruises to brag about but, he most definitely didn't understand women's fashion. Luckily however, he had remembered to throw in most of her makeup and hair supplies so she could at least make her head look presentable.

After finally managing to put together a decent outfit, she dashed into the bathroom and set to work on her face. She smothered a generous portion of foundation over her bruise and added extra blusher to stop her from looking so pale. She tried to apply eyeliner but her hands were still too shaky to even attempt it. She swept her hair up into its usual neat ponytail as she walked out of the bathroom, allowing herself to peek at her full reflection in the longer mirror. She was wearing a short pastel pink dress which showed a generous amount of leg (not her choice obviously) paired with some flat black pumps which didn't completely match but would have to do given the circumstance. She flattened down the last creases in her outfit, gave herself a small reassuring smile and slipped out of the enormous room.

The sudden light in the hallway momentarily blinded her but as her eyes became accustomed to the brightness, she saw Oliver's home. The walls were adorned with expensive tapestries and paintings which were most likely originals. She quietly padded along the corridor, mindful that some people were most likely not awake yet. The plan of the house was obviously huge as it took her almost 10 minutes to find the stairs leading to the main entrance area. As she slowly walked down them, trying not to show her awe about the place, she saw Oliver standing in a suit at the base of the stairs, grinning.

"Impressive right? I'm surprised you found your way here actually. Thea and I used to play hide and seek as kids and it always took us ages to find each other because the house was so big." His smile widened at the memory.

It was nice to see him smile so freely. He didn't often drop the mask he wore and show his true emotions. She was about to comment on it when he interrupted her.

"You must be hungry. Come." He took her by her hand and led her to the kitchen. A small woman was leaning over the sink scrubbing furiously at a dish. She turned as she heard them walk in and smiled brightly at them.

"Felicity, this is Raisa, the best sandwich maker in all of Starling City."

"He only says that when he wants something. Honestly, this boy will do anything for his food!" Raisa replied, swatting playfully at his arm before gesturing to a seat at the counter. "Please sit. You haven't had breakfast have you Miss Felicity?"

Shaking her head, she slid onto the stool. Oliver placed a hand on her shoulder causing her to look up at him. The carefree look was gone and an emotionless mask in place.

"I need to sort something at the office, make a few phone calls. Will you be okay here?"

Felicity nodded and watched him leave the room until the sound of Raisa's voice made her turn around.

"He works too hard that boy. Ever since he came back from that island he hasn't been the same. Coming home late and skulking around all secretive. I sometimes wonder what happened to him there…" The smell and hiss of cooking bacon slowly filled the room as she spoke, forcing Felicity to realise how hungry she really was.

Raisa eventually turned around with a huge sandwich stuffed with bacon in her hands. Laying it on the counter in front of her she gave her a warm smile. "You make him smile you know. Not many people can do that."

Felicity thanked her politely, not quite taking in what she had just said. The small woman nodded back and silently left the room. Felicity's stomach grumbled impatiently, the salty smell of bacon taunting it. She took a huge bite out of the sandwich and closed her eyes as the delicious taste caused sensory euphoria. She finished the sandwich in record time, just finishing the last bites as Oliver came back into the room looking tired and worn down.

"What's up?" asked Felicity after she had cleared her mouth of all remaining food.

"Isabel Rochev." He replied shortly as if the name left a bad taste in his mouth. "She was laying into me about missing the meetings yesterday." He ran his hand roughly over his face.

Felicity couldn't help but feel guilty. It was her fault that he wasn't there to do the meetings. "Sorry."

"For what?" Oliver replied, his brows furrowing, genuinely confused.

"If I hadn't broken down yesterday, you would have been at the meetings. And then you wouldn't look as tired as you do now. Not that you look bad tired. You always look good. Not that I notice, or stare. You just look tired and I really need to stop talking in 3… 2… 1…" she rambled, slowly turning a brighter and brighter red as she went on, her head dropping by the end. She thought she was getting better at providing a filter between her brain and her mouth but every now and then, especially when she was tired, it slipped.

"Hey. Stop blaming yourself. Nothing was your fault." He said placing two strong hands on her shoulders and squeezing them once. She looked up at him and gave him a quick sad smile before she pushed herself off the stool.

"Right well there's no point hanging around here, wallowing in self-pity. Let's go to work!" she joked with fake enthusiasm complete with ridiculously cheesy grin. Oliver snorted loudly and followed her out of the kitchen and then out the front door. His hand automatically fell to the small of her back. He felt her tense beneath him but she soon relaxed. Digg was waiting by the open door of the car, fitting very well into his alter ego of the 'Black Driver'. He smiled gently at Felicity, asking her if she was okay. She nodded in response and Oliver was forced to drop his hand as she slid across the backseat of the car. He ducked down after her and the door was closed behind him. He reached across and took her hand in his, giving it a quick squeeze and flashing a reassuring smile at her. She smiled weakly back at him and gave his hand a replying squeeze.

All the way to the office, she didn't move her hand.

**Review?!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Here's another! This one was so fun to write and I'm having a great time basically writing my own episode of Arrow! EEP! Thanks for all the reviews as usual and remember that plot thoughts are greatly appreciated! Merci beaucoup chums xx**

Felicity spent the car journey staring out the window, trying to distract her mind from the thoughts running through her head. She was now regretting her decision to go into work and wanted nothing more but to dive back into the safety of the guest room and make a duvet cocoon. She must have been giving off nervous vibes as Oliver looked across at her and gave her hand another squeeze. This small gesture helped calm her nerves a little but the butterflies in her stomach were still fluttering with gusto.

Her heart rate increased as they pulled up to the office. The car slowly stopped and Felicity made to get out of the car but was suddenly restrained by one of Oliver's strong arms, his muscles feeling like iron against her.

"Digg's checking everything's clear first. Then, we're taking the lift together up to my office and you're going to keep your side of the agreement. Right?" Oliver explained.

Felicity gave a small nod and waited as Diggle walked slowly around the car, his fingers hovering above the holster on his hip. After what seemed like an age, he eventually turned back towards the door and Felicity let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding. Digg opened the door and held out a hand for her to grab. She gratefully took it and stepped out of the car as Oliver got out of the other side.

Oliver quickly made his way to her side and soon Felicity was walking towards the front doors of Queen Consolidated flanked by two very strong men. As they walked up the steps, Diggle walked in front so he could push open the door for both Felicity and Oliver. When inside, they quickly made their way over to the lift until they were interrupted by one of the receptionists on the main desk.

"Um, Mr Queen, could you quickly sign this please? It's a check for the maintenance department. They just fixed the coffee machine up in your office this morning." Oliver walked quickly over to the waiting clipboard and hurriedly scribbled his signature. He finally re-joined Digg and Felicity with a concealed roll of the eyes. They closed the distance to the elevator and as the doors closed, for the first time since they left the Queen Mansion, Felicity felt safe.

"Phase one completed Sarge. Should we progress to phase two?" Felicity said in a bad imitation of a macho male, lowering her voice and giving Oliver a mock salute. Both men snorted in synchronicity at Felicity's attempt to clear the air. She snickered lightly at herself and in almost no time at all, the lift doors opened. As they exited the elevator, Felicity ran straight to her desk and snatched up her tablet which was still lying on the table top from the previous night. She cradled it in her arms like it was a baby but whipped her head back up when she heard Oliver silently laughing,

"Hey! My electronics are my babies, a bit like your arrows are your babies. I've seen you in the lair when you think no one's watching, going all gooey eyed over a couple of sharp ended sticks! You can't judge me Oliver Queen!" she said, laughing her way through the end.

Oliver held his hands up in mock surrender. "Not judging, not judging!" he grinned.

Both went to their desks still smiling at the thought as Digg set up base by the lift doors. He stood there in what Felicity called his 'army pose' where his hands were crossed in front of him and he stared straight ahead, his face void of all emotions. She smiled to herself. She most definitely felt safe with a vigilante and an ex-marine watching over her.

The morning went by pretty uneventfully. Apart from occasionally looking up to check on Felicity, Oliver was absorbed in the stack of paperwork on his desk. She occasionally walked in to cross reference some files but now she was typing furiously on her keyboard, the rhythmic clacking almost relaxing. It was only when Felicity spoke at around quarter to three that he snapped out of his work.

"There are visitors downstairs for the annual board meeting. Do you want me to send them up?"

Oliver swore profusely as he leapt up from his chair. "Yes please Felicity." He shouted over his shoulder as he swept through the papers in his filing cabinet to find the right file which need to be filled out.

"Looking for this?" she said, suddenly appearing behind him with a file in her hand, smiling. "I saw how focused you were on your work so I filled it out for you. Is that okay?"

He took the file from her and quickly flicked through the papers and upon seeing everything in order, he smiled gratefully back at her. "Perfect. What would I do without you?!"

She grinned back and strolled back to her desk, her flat shoes making little slaps on the hard floor. As people started to arrive in the lift, Oliver fixed his jacket and walked over to them, greeting them as they came in and pointing them in the direction of the conference room. When finally all the visitors had arrived, he looked back over at Felicity who gave him a sympathetic smile. She knew how much he despised the board meetings. He swiftly turned on his heel, dreading what would happen inside the glass room in front of him.

As usual, the meeting ran over. It was around half four by the time they finally finished. The visitors left in drips and drabs and as soon as they were all gone, Oliver threw off his suit jacket and tie. He didn't want to talk about cash flow and investors for at least another year after that meeting. He sighed loudly and fell into the chair by his desk. He saw Felicity tentatively walking up to him with a steaming mug in her hands.

"Rough?" she asked sympathetically. He could only nod back in reply. "Coffee." She stated simply, pointing at the mug in her hand. "Digg's gone home. He wasn't feeling well." She said as she placed the cup on his desk.

"Thanks." She nodded and walked back to her desk. She was back on her computer before he had even picked up the mug. He held it in front of his face for a while, letting the steam work away the tension on his features. When he finally took a sip, it blistered his tongue. He didn't care. It was perfect. Except for the sharp after taste left in his mouth.

"Is this a new type of coffee powder Felicity?" he said his brows returning to the default position of a frown.

"No. It's the same. Why?" she asked looking up from her computer.

Oliver stood up placing the cup onto his desk, feeling dizzy. "I don't know. It tastes wrong." As the last word left his mouth, he could no longer stand up. He gripped the desk hard as his knees buckled. The coffee was laced with something and it was pulling him under fast.

"Oliver?!" he heard Felicity's panicked voice ring through the air followed by a shrill cry. Oliver was on the floor and although black spots were dancing across his vision, he forced himself to look up to find Felicity. A tall man in a scruffy suit had Felicity by the waist and she was struggling to get out of his grip. Oliver tried to move but his legs were heavy, almost paralysed. He was watching them intently, trying to keep his eyes on Felicity and the intruder but he was losing his focus. The black spots almost covered his vision. The man brought a small black box out of his trouser pocket and held it to Felicity's neck.

"She is mine. Can't you see?!" He spat venomously. A sharp buzzing sound filled the air and Felicity froze then crumbled. Oliver tried to shout out but something had wrapped itself around his voice box. The last thing he saw was Antony Riggs dragging Felicity's limp body toward the lift before he lost consciousness.

**DUM DUM DUUUUUMMMMM! Sorry about the huge cliff hanger but maybe you could drop me a review instead? Pretty please?!**


	9. Chapter 9

**I decided to be nice and post this early because of the horrible cliff hanger at the end of the previous chapter (sorry, not sorry :D) Hope you enjoy this and sorry about the shortness!**

Everything seemed to pass in slow motion. The clocks hands moved sluggishly around the clock face at a fraction of their usual speed. Oliver was lying motionless on the floor by his desk, files scattered around him where he had desperately grabbed at the table as he fell. More time passed until movement was spotted. Oliver's eyes slowly flickered open and he groaned as he tried to move his stiff limbs. His muscles felt as if he had just taken part in a 2 hour sparring session with Diggle, sore and burning. His head was spinning and pounding so hard, he could almost hear it. Slowly pushing himself up to his forearms, he lifted his head to look straight ahead. His brain was suddenly overloaded with flashbacks of what had just happened. Felicity.

That one thought forced him to stand up. His vision swum at his sudden movements but he ignored it, only placing a palm on the desk to balance him. He shoved his free hand into his trouser pocket and quickly retrieved his phone. With some difficulty, he found Diggle's name and punched the call button. In a matter of seconds, his voice filled the small device.

"Oliver?" his voice gruff and almost croaky. It was only then that Oliver remembered he was ill but quickly dismissed the thought; this was much more important. "What's going on?"

"It's Felicity. She's been taken. Antony drugged the coffee and he's taken her." He tried to keep his voice steady but failed as it broke on the last section.

"What?! Jesus. I'll be right there. Were you drugged?" he could hear a vague rustling in the background, letting him know that Digg was on his way.

"Yes but I'm fine. We need to concentrate on Felicity." With these words, he promptly ended the call. Looking up to the clock on the far wall, he saw it was only five. That meant he had been out for around 5 minutes, explaining why his headache was also now fading and his limbs were slowly regaining some feeling. As he walked towards her desk he couldn't help but think of the pain Felicity would be in. He had been tasered many a time and it most definitely wasn't a pleasant experience. Now she was going to feel the same pain. Trying to put that thought to the back of his mind, he looked down at her belongings. Everything was almost normal until he saw her tablet lying on the floor, a long spider web crack running from one corner to the other. This almost sent him over the edge. The tablet was a metaphor for her. Once strong and pristine, now shattered and damaged, all because of him. He gently stroked a finger down the splintered crack, vowing to bring her back and make her whole again. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts; he didn't hear the elevator doors open and Diggle run out.

"Oliver?! What's going on?!" Digg panted, obviously out of breath from the dash to get here.

"Riggs," Oliver replied shortly. "He put something in the coffee to drug me, came in and took Felicity, tasering her for good measure." His fists clenched at the end of the sentence as he remembered how Antony had held the taser to her neck and how she crumbled to the floor, almost lifelessly. He could hear Diggle moving around her desk but he was too wrapped up in his thoughts to concentrate on him.

"What's this?" Digg asked, pulling Oliver back to the present. He had opened the laptop lid and a small piece of paper had fluttered out. Oliver leapt up from the floor and snatched it from where it lay on the keyboard. Written in the same messy handwriting were two sentences:

_Mr Queen, you should have listened to my warning. SHE IS MINE._

It took nearly all of his self-control not to scrunch up the note and punch the nearest thing to him. He was almost shaking with anger as he looked to Diggle.

"The lair. Now. We have to find her."

**PAGE BREAK**

Felicity was in her nightmare. She no longer had any idea what was reality and what was a dream. A blurry figure was standing in the doorway as she lay in bed, unrestrained but paralysed. She was sensory aware but unable to move. The figure was advancing slowly, purposefully, mimicking what happened in her dream. She could see his lips moving but she only registered a constant hiss of static. Then suddenly, he was so close that she could see him clearly even without her glasses. He was kneeling over her, a leering smile matching his rancid breath. He was clearly talking but again she couldn't make out the words.

He lowered his head to her neck and she tried to struggle but to no avail. She was disgusted as his rough lips planted kisses along her collarbone, slowly making their way lower. His hands were beginning to run themselves down her sides, not with the same gentle cautiousness as Oliver but unforgiving and desperate like the ones in her nightmare. She tried to scream. She pushed so hard but only a squeak came out. A tiny, pitiful squeak. At the sound of her voice, his head whipped up, his eyes darkened with lust and anger. His forearm came down hard on her windpipe, essentially stopping her from making any more noise. The wind was knocked out of her and she struggled to breathe. She felt the other hand not on her throat becoming more and more frantic. She knew what was coming and as the started to see stars she realised that she wasn't in a nightmare. She was in hell.

**Sorry again, this one's so short! It just felt like the right place to end it. Also, I'm struggling with a bit of block so as always plot ideas would be greatly received! REVIEW PLEASE.**


	10. Chapter 10

**THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! Your nice comments are what really inspire me to write! This chapter is also pretty short but you'll be glad to know it doesn't have a cliff hanger at the end… (or does it :D) **

The car journey was made in complete silence, only accompanied by the revving hum of the engine as they flashed past speed cameras, way above the limit. Digg had insisted on driving, saying that the drug could have after effects, making it dangerous for both of them if Oliver was at the wheel. They finally screeched to a stop by the back entrance of Verdant and Oliver was out before the tires even stopped rolling. He punched in the code and threw open the heavy door, making his way down the iron stairs, the echoing clang reminding him how empty the lair was without Felicity. He was tempted to head over to the training mats and beat the living daylights out of a dummy but silently scolded himself at the thought of it. He had to focus on Felicity.

Powering up the system he cursed the slowness of the set up. He could hear Digg's footsteps entering the lair but didn't turn around, too focused on the screen in front of him.

"Where do I start?" Oliver asked, somewhat sheepishly. This was Felicity's forte and not having her here was a huge drawback.

Diggle appeared by his left shoulder. "Try just a simple name search." He said, leaning over and pointing at a program on the screen.

Upon opening it, Oliver quickly typed in Antony's name and entered the search. There were thousands of hits so he limited the search to just Starling City. He wasn't surprised to see his name wasn't listed.

"Nope. He's a ghost. I remember when I was with Emma, his daughter; she mentioned he worked with computers. He's probably wiped his name from the database. Felicity's said how easy it is to do if you know how." His voice trailed off at the end at the mention of her name. Just saying it felt like a blow to his heart.

"So there's no point checking bank or hotel records if he's a ghost, is there?"

Oliver shook his head tiredly, running a hand quickly through his hair "I'll check anyways, just to be sure."

Oliver had been sifting through electronic paperwork for almost an hour and found nothing. His eyes were dry from staring constantly at the bright screens. He had no idea how Felicity could dig for hours on end without developing a constant squint. He sighed roughly and leant back in the chair, covering his face with his hands and rubbing his eyes. It wasn't until he felt Digg's hand land lightly on his shoulder that he lowered them.

"Why don't you take a break? I'll carry on checking through the rest of these results." He said gesturing at the screen.

Oliver nodded his head gratefully and was making his way to the couch before he changed his mind. He had anger left over in his system and needed to sweat it out. He switched his direction and walked towards the training mats, whipping off his shirt as he did. He beat the dummy over and over again, harder and harder, imagining Antony was standing in front of him. He pounded it again, his grunts and the thwack of skin against leather filling the air. He was breathing heavily and dripping with sweat when he heard Digg call his name urgently.

"Oliver! Quickly, a live feed's being transmitted to us. It's Felicity." On hearing these words, he ran as fast as he could over to the computers. On the screen was a small box showing a dark room. He could make out a small tatty bed with a figure spread across it. He wouldn't have recognised them if he hadn't seen their hair reflecting the little light in the room. She had been stripped down to her underwear and he could see numerous bruises covering her body. There were a ring of darker ones around her neck, probably from being strangled and he swore again to kill Antony when he found him. She wasn't moving apart from the small rise and fall of her chest. The door opened, throwing more light into the tiny room. Antony walked in, looked straight at the camera and smiled.

"You really should have listened Oliver. She's mine." He put emphasise on the last word, further fuelling the Oliver's rage. "You should know better than to play with other's property. Except that never really bothered you did it? Never bothered you with my Emma?!" he spat, his voice rising, slowly filling with rage.

"Did you even love her?! Or was it just a meaningless fling like this one here?" he flung his arm towards Felicity's small body on the bed. The anger slowly seemed to disappear from his stance as he stared at her and even in the darkness, Oliver could see his eyes growing darker.

"I will do to her what you did to my daughter. Now, why don't you leave me and your pretty blonde to have some fun…" he said smiling savagely as he started towards her. The picture suddenly disappeared, faced back with the desktop background. Oliver roared in pure anger and screamed at Diggle.

"Get it back! Track it! It can't end there!" Digg's fingers flew clumsily over the keys only to growl in frustration.

"It's blocked! I can't get a fix!"

Oliver yelled in frustration and turned around to the metal tables behind him. Without even thinking, he flipped one, enjoying the clang and smashing following it. He was still shaking, both of rage and shock. The key clicks were still echoing around the empty warehouse but they were becoming slower and less assured.

"What is he doing to her? We're blind without the video…" Oliver said slumping into the nearby couch, suddenly feeling bone tired. He ran another hand over his face, breathing out deeply.

"I have a feeling he's going to call us back. We'll just have to wait it out until then." Digg stated monotonously.

Too exhausted to argue, Oliver nodded his head, ignoring the guilt he felt for essentially abandoning Felicity.

For the first time since returning from the island Oliver felt powerless. Someone he loved was being hurt because of a stupid mistake he made years ago. He couldn't turn up and stick arrows into anyone. He had to sit still and wait for something to tell him what to do next.

**Hey remember MORE REVIEWS = MORE CHAPTERS**


	11. Chapter 11

**THIS ONE IS SCARY GRUESOME! COULD YOU GUESS THAT I REALLY DON'T LIKE BLOOD?! SCENES OF TORTURE AND COMPLETE MADNESS! SOME MAY HATE, SOME MAY LOVE, JUST DON'T GIVE UP ON ME YET. STAY WITH ME…**

She breathed in. And out. Her lungs were burning from the lack of oxygen and her throat felt as if iron clamps had locked it shut. She slowly lifted her head, taking small sharp breaths the whole time. As she saw what she was wearing, she gasped, her throat protesting at the intake. She was in just her underwear and her body was littered with bruises of various colour and size. Tears leaked from her eyes as she tried not to think about how she got into this state of undress. Trying not to imagine where the hands could have wandered whilst changing her. She shivered at the thought, her very being feeling violated and dirty. She tried to sit up from the small bed but was stopped. Her left hand was cuffed to the wall, preventing her from moving to any other position than the one she was currently in.

She struggled against her restraints, ignoring the shooting pain it was causing her. She pulled and twisted until her wrist was slick with her own blood, the handcuffs gouging out her flesh. The chain rattled loudly as it smacked against the metal bed frame. Her whole body writhed, desperate to be released. Her face was wet with tears and more were still falling.

The door to the room was pushed open and the tall man in the suit came in. Her kidnapper. Antony Riggs. He threw his ill fitted suit jacket to the corner of the room as he walked over to her, mock concern plastering his face.

"Now, now little lady. Calm down." He placed a hand on her stomach, pinning her to the bed. Her body was overwhelmed with fear.

"You'll only hurt yourself." He brought his hand to her face, caressing it and wiping away the tears still falling from her eyes. She tried not to flinch away at the feel of his rough hands on her skin. She felt something warm drip down from her elevated arm.

"Oh dear," he said tutting and shaking his head at the sight of her arm, "you already have." To her surprise, he reached into his back pocket and drew out a small metal key. He brought it to her wrist and the cuffs were unlocked. Her arm fell down and she drew it quickly to her chest, cradling it. She didn't care that she most likely would get bloodier in this position. She released the tiniest sigh possible, but he noticed and barked a harsh laugh.

"Oh no. You're not done yet." His lips drew back into a menacing smirk as he grabbed her injured wrist. She yelled out in pain as he dragged her to the door. Her legs didn't seem to function as they slid out from underneath her, putting more pressure on her injured wrist. She sobbed as his grip grew tighter, feeling more blood drip down her arm. He pulled her out of the room and into a thin corridor, decorated with the same shade of grey as the first room. Trying to distract herself from the fire burning in her left wrist, she looked around to try and see if there were any distinguishing features around her. There was nothing, just the same dark walls and wooden floors all around her. As he started to drag her into a new room, she felt the fight come back to her. Ignoring the agony running down her arm, she twisted away from him, remembering the self-defence classes Digg had made her take. His hands were already slick with her blood so she easily slipped from his grasp. She stood up quickly, her legs wobbling, dangerously close to buckling. She turned to the door she had just come through, making to run out but Antony grabbed at her elbow, pulling her back in. She writhed to try and get her arm away from him and when he wouldn't release her, she turned sharply and brought her knee up hard and fast into his crotch. He groaned and doubled over in pain, covering the area she had just hit. Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, she spun and sprinted out of the room.

Her throat burned as she took short breaths, pounding down the corridors, having no idea where she was headed. She could hear heavy footsteps gaining on her but she ignored them, desperate to find her way out. She was slowing down, made weak by the blood loss from her wrist. She was suddenly faced with a dead end and she skidded to a stop, only stopping just before the wall. There was a large window, looking out to the street below. Realising what she could do, she hurriedly scanned the street below. As the footsteps behind her grew to a crescendo she found what she was looking for. A small sign saying Hillington Street. She knew where she was! For the first time since she had been held here she felt hopeful. If she could somehow get to Oliver, she could tell him where she was.

She didn't struggle much as he caught her waist and pulled her back through the maze of corridors. She was in the new room, with a metal chair standing alone in the middle of it. She flinched as he practically threw her into it and winced as he put on new handcuffs, the metal disk already digging into her injured wrist. He tied her feet hard to the chair, making sure she couldn't escape this time. She tentatively raised her head to look at Antony. He was breathing hard, looking down at her, eyes dark with anger. He was shaking, holding back rage.

"That was a silly thing to do. You'll pay." He stated shortly. He paused then licked his lips in thought. "Let's call your Oliver first so he can see you." His lips rising to the same malicious grin.

The mention of Oliver's name made the hope in her flare up again. He turned away and pulled a phone from his pocket. He tapped quickly, his fingers a blur over the screen. Pressing the screen once more he looked up to the corner of the room and following his eye line, she saw a small camera with a pulsating red dot. She looked straight down the lens, knowing Oliver was on the other side. She thought, stupidly, if she looked deep enough, she might be able to see his face staring back. All she could see was endless darkness. She didn't turn away even when she heard Antony speak.

"Hello again Mr Queen. Miss Felicity here has been very naughty, trying to run away. So I thought I'd give you an early update" his grin grew wider as he reached into his pocket and brought out a long thick knife and a gag.

As she saw the latter object, she bucked against the chair. The gag would ruin her only way out. She tried to protest but her throat wouldn't allow it.

Finally, she found her voice and shouted "Oliver, I'm," before a hand pressed firmly onto her lips. She resisted and thrashed as he put the gag on her, pulling the ties at the back hard for good measure. She couldn't talk and when she tried, the cloth made her retch. He was turning the knife over in his hands. It caught the light and glinted menacingly.

"I've been thinking," Antony said, still looking down at the knife, admiring it from all angles. "Where should I give her some scars?" He looked up at the camera and Felicity could tell that Oliver would be fuming by now. Antony was playing to his audience.

"I've decided to start with her lower abdomen." He said nonchalantly, as if picking a meal off a menu not deciding how to torture someone. "Don't worry, it won't kill her. Just inflict quite a lot of blood loss and obviously, pain." With these words he turned sharply. His eyes were no longer angry just filled with madness. Pure, untainted insanity. He knelt next to her and her eyes pushed in their sockets so she could keep her eyes on him. He brought the knife to her right temple, right on top of her bruise, and ran the sharp point past her eyes, along her jawline, down her neck and past her breast until it came to rest just underneath the last bone of her ribs. His eyes were focused, almost hungry for what was to come.

He dug the point in further, causing her to whimper as it broke the skin. A single drop of blood ran down and stained the hem of her underwear. Then, suddenly, as if he couldn't wait any longer, he slashed the knife violently to create a diagonal line from the base of her ribs to her left hip. She screamed and pulled against her bounds, the gag doing nothing to stop the sound coming out. The pain in her wrist was forgotten, overtaken by the agony in her abdomen. The wound was pumping out blood, so thick and fast, it didn't seem to be coming from her body. It ran slowly down her abdomen, soaking her underwear and dripping down her legs. The blood was pooling around her feet and she looked down, catching her reflection. She looked like she belonged in an abattoir. Dirty and bloody. She was still screaming and Antony was staring at her, almost consumed in bloodlust.

She was quickly losing blood and with it, her vision. It swum and dipped, the world an inaccurate representation of what it truly was. Stars were flying across her vision and everything was becoming darker. She forced herself to watch as Antony stood up and addressed the camera.

"There's more to come Mr Queen. Stay tuned." At this, Felicity slumped forward, losing consciousness, held half upright by her hands cuffed behind her. The last thing she saw was red.

**Another cliff hanger! I'm so mean! Sorry about all the bloody stuff but I hope I did it justice? That wasn't meant to sound creepy in anyway by the way… (not a murderer I promise!) Could you drop me a review about your thoughts on this chapter? TA VERY MUCH LOVES!**


	12. Chapter 12

**This is basically Oliver's POV of Felicity's torture. I found this really difficult to write! Oliver is such a complex character and it's sometimes hard to find the balance between his hood and his CEO persona! I really hope you like this one guys! Oh yeah and there's some blood so if you're squeamish, you might want to stop halfway through! LOVE YA XX**

Oliver hadn't meant to fall asleep. It just sort of, happened. He had tried to stay awake, watching Digg on the computer but his eyelids drooped, the clicks almost relaxing him. Now, he wished he had stayed awake as he was thrust into a nightmare.

He was back on the island, training with Slade, hitting the other with bamboo sticks. They snapped and cracked at the contact of skin. He wasn't focused, letting his guard down and Slade was becoming increasingly annoyed. In one moment of complete anger, he threw down the sticks, walked over to him and fisted his palm in the front of his shirt, pulling him slightly off the ground.

"Listen kid," he rasped in his deep Australian accent. "I still haven't decided if I'll let you live or kill you. But if you keep putting in half-hearted efforts like this, it won't be so difficult to choose." On the last word, Slade's face drooped and morphed into someone else. His features melted away and were replaced with new ones. Ivo was suddenly bearing down over him and Oliver was on his knees, his arms being pulled backwards, being bound by imaginary ropes. This part of the dream was familiar. He had experienced this one more than any other.

"It's time for you to choose Oliver." Ivo said, slowly pulling a pistol from his back pocket. "Who will you kill?"

Oliver looked to one side and wasn't surprised to see Sarah's terrified face staring back. What shocked him was when he turned his head to the other side. Instead of Shado, he was faced with his small blonde IT girl. Felicity.

He struggled against the non-existent restraints, screaming at Ivo to stop, see reason. As he pointed the gun to Sarah's head, his body leapt, on its own accord, in front of her.

"It seems you've made your choice." Ivo said shortly, turning the gun on Felicity and pulling the trigger.

The sound of the gunshot woke him up, jolting him back to reality. He knew it was a dream but somehow with the addition of Felicity, it felt a lot more real. He scrubbed a hand over his face, trying to erase the image of her body falling to the floor. He looked up to see Diggle studying him intensely.

"About Felicity?" he asked gruffly. He had seen Oliver through enough nightmares to know when he was having one.

He nodded. "Did I miss anything?" he suddenly felt guilty that he had abandoned Felicity. To his relief, Digg shook his head.

"Nothing. To be honest, I didn't expect him to so…" he was cut off by a violent hiss of static from the screen behind him.

Oliver shot up upon seeing the small box appear on the screen. He moved almost inhumanly fast from his sitting position to standing front of the screen.

They were both in a different room. Both were breathing relatively heavily, as if they had been running and Felicity was sitting, handcuffed, to a metal chair. Her left wrist was stained with blood and Oliver felt his rage grow as he looked at her. She was battered and bruised, but alive. She stared straight down the camera lens, her gaze burning holes in him. She didn't even turn when Antony started speaking.

"Hello again Mr Queen. Miss Felicity here has been very naughty, trying to run away. So I thought I'd give you an early update" With these words, he slowly pulled out a gag and a long thick knife, almost like the ones you carve meat with. Oliver tensed as he saw Felicity struggle against the chair, obviously trying to say something, but failing.

"Oliver, I'm…" In those two words, hope flared through him. She was going to tell him she was okay. She was going to let him know it wasn't his fault. Some relief from the guilt he was feeling. As Antony's hand clamped over Felicity's mouth, stopping her from speaking, his hope faded. It almost extinguished when he saw him wrestling her into the gag, wincing in sympathy when Antony pulled the ends tighter than they needed to go.

He slowly stood up and the knife began to be passed from one hand to the other. Oliver could tell it had recently been sharpened by the way it caught the light. He held his breath.

Antony was saying something about scars, staring straight down the camera, trying to wind him up but Oliver wasn't focusing on his voice. He was analysing every inch of Felicity's body trying to gauge where she was hurt by how she held herself. Her wrist was obviously hurting her and the old bruise on her right temple stood out starkly. Apart from that she didn't seem to be dangerously hurt. Yet.

He only looked back to Antony when he started towards her. He knelt down next to her again and Oliver could see the fear in Felicity's wide, wild eyes. He touched the point of the knife to her temple, right where her bruise was. He saw her flinch and growled in the base of his throat, engulfed in rage.

He ran the blade slowly down her body until he stopped at the base of her ribs. It was now Oliver could see Antony was completely mad. He licked his lips, looking almost thirsty for the blood about to be shed. The point was gouging a small hole and a single drop of blood ran down her stomach, staining a thin red line. Then suddenly, almost so fast he couldn't comprehend it, Antony ripped the knife downwards until it reached the opposite hip, just above her underwear hem.

Oliver roared in rage, matching Felicity's tortured scream, and shouted insult after threat at the screen, not caring that he couldn't be heard. Tears he had tried so hard to control now ran carelessly down his face. Digg's hand was firm on his shoulder, only using enough pressure to prevent him from breaking the screen in half, but light enough to let him thrash around. He didn't see Antony stand up, his vision tunnelling on Felicity.

Her bottom half was completely soaked with blood. More and more was still pumping out and Oliver knew if she didn't get help soon, she would bleed to death. He could see her staring in disbelief and confusion at her body, not fully understanding how that amount of blood could come from her. The floor was slowly getting stained, a pool of blood around her ankles.

Her eyes were slowly losing focus and he knew she would pass out. He had stopped shouting and was instead leaning forward, trying to send mental messages to her.

Please be strong. Hang on Felicity. Please. I lo….

Antony looked straight to the camera and it was only then that Oliver looked at him. "There's more to come Mr Queen. Stay tuned."

She slumped forward in her chair, her restrained arms preventing her from falling and Oliver vowed again to kill Antony.

He expected the video to cut out at this point but was shocked when the image didn't even flicker. Antony walked out the room leaving the door open a fraction so only a slither of light came through. The room was dark but he could just make out Felicity's figure in the centre. He watched intently, waiting for anything to happen, any movement, any sound. Everything was still.

He heard Digg sigh as his hand dropped from his shoulder and he walked away. Oliver's eyes were still fixated on the screen, all his senses on high alert.

He sat there, motionless for what seemed like an eternity. He watched her chest rising and falling. It was the only thing that stopped him from going over the edge. He wished he could take the pain away from her in any way he could, even if it meant inflicting it on himself. He was so wrapped up in this wishful thinking he almost didn't see her head twitch. He suddenly focused, calling Digg over to him. She lifted up her head slowly and even in the darkness, he could see how pale she was. She was losing so much blood too quickly. He had to get to her soon. She slowly moved her shoulders until she was sitting up straight. Oliver didn't miss how she winced painfully at the movement. She was moving her head but it took a while for Oliver to actually see what she was doing.

She was rubbing her cheek against her shoulder and he was momentarily confused and worried. Then he remembered the cloth around her mouth. She was trying to get the gag away so she could speak. He mumbled encouraging words as he leaned forward towards the screen.

Finally, he heard an audible sigh signalling she had been successful. Then he heard her voice. It was weak and breathy but it was still her voice.

"Oliver, I know you can hear me." She stopped for a breath. Talking obviously hurt her enormously.

"I'm on the corner of Hillington Street. Please come find me." Her voice rose with hysterical tears at the end. She was looking fearfully at the door and Oliver knew why. He could hear harsh footsteps pounding towards the room.

Antony entered, his eyes fuming with rage. "You bitch!" he spat before slapping her hard across the face. He hit her so forcefully that the chair tipped on its side and suddenly she was on the ground, no longer conscious. Oliver shouted her name as she fell and cursed loudly as Antony switched off the camera. Without thinking, he ran to the glass cabinet and yanked out the hood. He was changed in a flash and was just picking up his quiver and bow as Digg grabbed the first aid kit and started the car.

He was imagining one hundred and one different ways to kill Antony as he ran up the stairs. He thought of how they were going to treat her wounds when he threw open the door. But as he slipped into the car and as it sped away, one thought overruled the rest.

They were getting her back tonight.

**Just a titchy cliff hanger for you there! I'm on break at the moment which is why I've been fortunate enough to update so much but I'm going back to school on Monday (boo!) so there won't be daily chapters :( I've decided that once I hit 100 reviews, I'm going to do a shout out to some of the people who wrote the nicest ones. Soooo, if you want to be featured, REVIEW AWAY!**


	13. Chapter 13

**OOOO Chapter 13, unlucky for some! Might turn out to be pretty lucky for Felicity though! You know the drill, drop some reviews and just be your normal awesome selves! **

The car was driving dangerously fast but to Oliver, it felt cruelly slow. He was impatient to get there, knowing every second spent driving was another second closer to the end of Felicity's life. The adrenaline had already started rushing through him and he felt his fingers twitch, desperate to shoot some arrows.

Diggle was staring straight ahead, trying to find the shortest way possible to Hillington Street. They swerved in and out of traffic and would probably have a few speeding offences to answer to in the morning. That didn't matter at that precise moment. They had better things to worry about.

As they neared their destination, Oliver quickly slipped on his mask. As it slid into place, he felt composed, almost calm and ready to do whatever it took to get her away from Antony. He didn't care how many of his rules he had to break; she was going to get out alive.

Finally, after what felt like an endless amount of time, they swerved to a stop at the corner of the street. What stood before them was some sort of apartment building but it, like almost everything else in the Glades, was crumbling and rundown. Throwing the door open roughly, he met Digg on the pavement.

"Listen Oliver, I know you want to get her back but just remember," he paused, unsure if he should carry on. "Don't do anything stupid. She wouldn't want that."

Pretending to ignore what he had just said, Oliver set off towards the block, his eyes and mind fixed on their objective. He quickly surveyed the building until he found the fire escape. He slunk silently up the stairs, his feet making almost no sound against the metal slats. He was in total hunting mode.

It was then that he realised he had no idea what floor she was on. As he passed numerous flats, he contemplated busting into them, although he knew it would just waste time. He finally resolved to look through the small windows and if anything was unusual, break through it and take a look around.

As he slowly made his way higher and higher up, a few red herrings under his belt, he noticed a particular apartment that looked different to the others. All the others were cluttered with furniture and junk, looking as if they had been well lived in. This one however, was empty; the grey walls the only decoration in the place. This was enough to spike his interest and he didn't waste a second to smash through the window, ignoring how the shards of glass ripped at his skin. He heard a panicked male voice from within. Antony. Bingo.

Oliver stood completely still, the bow loaded with an arrow hung readily at his side. He heard more than one pair of footsteps pounding towards him and he tensed. Suddenly, Antony turned the corner, flanked by two men pointing guns at Oliver's chest.

"I figured it would only be a matter of time until you came to rescue the little damsel in distress." He smirked, enjoying the growl Oliver had made. "I called in a few favours and I'm afraid, you're outnumbered."

He didn't even bother switching on his voice modulator, knowing anger had already brought it to the right pitch. "That never stopped me before." With that he swiftly brought the bow up high and shot an arrow into the strip of lighting on the ceiling. Sparks flew down and Oliver ducked, anticipating the rounds of gunfire above his head. They were shooting blindly.

Oliver propelled himself across the floor with his hands until his foot came into contact with Antony's ankle. He kicked hard, satisfied when he heard a loud snap and a cry of pain. He quickly rolled to the right as bullets ricocheted his way. He swiftly brought himself to his feet and used the end of his bow to hit one of the flanking men in the nose. He hit at such an angle that he knew it was broken but hit him again in the temple for good measure. The man collapsed, leaving one man standing. He heard the click of an empty chamber and relaxed slightly. This would be a lot easier without bullets.

Whipping his foot around quickly, he swept the man's feet out from underneath him. As he fell, he punched him quickly in the side, gauging by the groans that he had hit well. With the man on the floor, he brought his foot down hard on his throat, cutting off the air. He would have carried on had he not heard the crack of broken glass underfoot and then a sharp thud as the room filled with light. Digg was standing in the fire escape with Antony lying in front of him. His right hand held a torch which illuminated the room perfectly. Antony, being the weak sicko he was, had tried to escape, only to be forcefully stopped by Diggle.

It was then that Oliver turned his attention directly to him. He loaded a new arrow, the other still hanging from the light above them.

"You thought you could take her from me? You thought I wouldn't come back for her?" his voice rose with anger as he drew back the arrow, steading his aim. "I'm afraid you were mistaken." Then, not giving him a chance to say one word, he released.

Oliver turned on his heel, not looking at the man dead at his feet, instead focusing on what they had come here to do. He heard Digg climb through the broken window and relaxed slightly as he fell into step behind him.

"You did the right thing Oliver."

He didn't reply.

**PAGE BREAK**

Felicity was hanging between consciousness and blackness. Still on her side, she could barely see anything, partly due to the dark of the room and partly to do with her growing weakness. White noise filling her ears. She registered some kind of commotion but she was too weak to even lift her head. Her stomach throbbed unforgivingly, a constant reminder of the fear she should feel for the man that kept her hostage. She heard footsteps and finally accepted that he had come to finish her off. She embraced the closeness of her death.

The door flung open and she closed her eyes tight. She didn't want Antony's face to be her final sight. She wanted to be alone as the last breath left her body. It wasn't until she heard someone distinctly not Antony call her name that she opened them.

Oliver.

She knew he threw his bow to the side of the room, judging by the clatter of metal. Her vision still wavered and she didn't have her glasses on but he was knelt so close to her that she could almost make him out perfectly.

"I'm here. I came back." He said simply. His hand was under her cheek, lifting her head gently from the ground. He ran his thumb across her cheekbone and she shivered causing her to cry out in pain as the movement caused more blood to run from her stomach.

Oliver whipped his head to her wound and inhaled sharply. He barked something at Digg but she didn't hear. Her senses were slowly fading. She was slowly fading.

She felt her arms release from behind her and with nothing to keep her upright, she slid down. She would have hit the floor if Oliver's free arm had not caught her. He had tried to avoid her wound but failed as the pressure caused Felicity's whole body pulsate with agony. She felt herself being laid flat down and she tried to open her eyes but she couldn't, all the energy leaving her body.

"Felicity?!" She heard Oliver's alarmed tone but it seemed to come from far away, at the end of a long tunnel. "No! Stay with me!" his voice cracking with emotion. "You can't go please!" The sound of his voice nearly broke her heart and she tried to hold on but was still being pulled under fast.

"No! Please! Felicity, you can't leave!" his voice rising higher still. She could hear tears clogging his throat. She so wanted to open her eyes but she just couldn't. "Please! I … love you."

Even in her half-conscious state, she was shocked. There had always been an unspoken truth between them that had stayed just that, unspoken, until now. These simple words were enough to bring some sort of fight back into her body. She heard Oliver sigh loudly in relief as she came back from the edge and quickly told Digg to call an ambulance.

"I need to move you Felicity. It's going to hurt." She heard guilt and pain mixing in with his words. She wanted to put her hand to his face and wipe away the tears that were undoubtedly falling.

As she felt him gently pick her up, her whole body rocked into oblivion. Every nerve in her body seemed to be on fire and agony ripped through her very being. She rolled towards his chest and groaned loudly into his leather clad chest.

"I'm so sorry. Just please stay with me…" she felt herself move away. He was trying to get out as fast as he could without hurting her. Every step still made a zap of pain run through her abdomen but she bit down hard on her lip to stop herself from crying out. The stairs were the worst. She couldn't help but let a tiny cry escape as he rushed as quickly as he could to the doors leading outside.

The frigid air hit her face hard and she realised how cold she was. She was only in her underwear. She felt the tarmac come into contact with her bare back and tried to suppress a shiver. It didn't escape Oliver's notice. He quickly called Diggle over who promptly removed his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. The jacket still had Digg's body heat clinging to it and she tried to push into every corner to get maximum warmth. She heard him tell Oliver to change to his 'street clothes' before the ambulance got there, assuring him that Felicity would be okay until he got back. She felt his hand leave hers and slowly cracked open her eyes. She saw a figure she knew to be Oliver, walking away into the distance. Her eye line flicked to Digg who was kneeling over her.

He smiled softly. "Hey. It's good to have you back." She smiled weakly in return. "I need to check you over okay?" She tried to nod.

Digg obviously understood what she meant and set about examining her. He lifted her left arm to see the deep handcuff cut which she had almost forgotten was there. He felt around her head, feeling for lumps or bleeding, being careful to avoid the bruise on her right temple. He checked over the rest of her body as she saw Oliver return. Digg had gotten to the part she had been dreading the most. Oliver's hand slipped back into hers.

"She'll need numerous stitches in her wrist but she's not bleeding too bad from there anymore." He paused, both men looking down to her tattered waist. "I need to put pressure on this to be honest. She'll bleed out otherwise." Oliver nodded grimly and came down closer to Felicity's face, so close she could almost make him out perfectly. She wondered what he was doing until she felt Digg's hand press firmly to her stomach. She gasped loudly, ready to groan until she felt Oliver's lips collide into hers, the sound disappearing. Pain momentarily forgotten, she melted into him. Her body relaxed and everything she had been through didn't seem to matter. Tears ran steadily down her face and she could soon taste the saltiness on his lips. She was still vaguely away of the agony in her abdomen but she ignored it as Oliver carried on kissing her gently. The initial shock was wearing off and she began to relax into the moment. She forgot where she was. It all came flooding back as he pulled away, the sound of sirens from a nearby ambulance filling the air.

Oliver quickly ran his thumb across her cheeks, catching the tears still falling. He apologised again as he brought her into his arms, agony flaming through her abdomen, and walked to the waiting ambulance. She eventually heard numerous voices around her, crowding her as she was laid down onto something warmer than the floor. A stretcher. Her eyes flickered shut again and she felt Oliver bend down to whisper in her ear.

"Rest now, you're safe."

**AWWWW! I actually loved writing this chapter just because of the "I love you" incident! EEP FANGIRLING SO HARD RIGHT NOW! Please let me know what you guys thought of it! Lots of Love To You All!**


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